Three Indian-Americans feature among America's 400 richest

Washington: Three Indian-Americans figure among America's 400 richest people with Microsoft co-founder Bill Gates retaining the top spot on the Forbes list for the twentieth straight year, at USD 72 billion. Up USD 6 billion from 2012, Gates is once again the world's richest person, having passed Mexico's Carlos Slim in May.

Topping the Indian-American list was Florida outsourcer Bharat Desai & family with a net worth of USD 2.2 billion in the 252nd position. He was followed California software manufacturer Romesh T Wadhwani with a net worth of 2.1 billion.

California venture capitalist Vinod Khosla was ranked 352 with a net worth of USD 1.5 billion Investor Warren Buffett, the second richest is the biggest dollar gainer this year at USD 58.5 billion, up USD 12.5 billion from last year.

Oracle co-founder Larry Ellison at number three, worth USD 41 billion, is the same as last year; he is the only one in the Top 10 who did not add to his fortune.

FaceBook founder Mark Zuckerberg was the second biggest gainer at USD 9.6 billion. He returns to the Top 20 (number 20) at USD 19 billion after dropping to 36th position last year.

The combined wealth of the Forbes' 2013 ranking of the richest people in America is USD 2 trillion, up from USD 1.7 trillion in 2012 and the highest ever, due in part to the strength of both the US stock and real estate markets.

The average net worth of a Forbes 400 member is a staggering USD 5 billion, the highest to date, up from USD 4.2 billion last year. Net worth increased for 314 members, and decreased for 30 members.